“Because I thought it the only way to induce her to marry Wroxham.”
“Upon my word, Theodore, you’re a very extraordinary man.”
“That, my dear, is a fact which has not entirely escaped my observation,” retorted Canon Spratte, rubbing his hands. “I’ve brought you to your knees, Sophia. Confess that this time your intelligence is at fault.”
“Nothing of the sort!”
“Well, well, I flatter myself——” he began.
“You frequently do,” interrupted his sister.
“I flatter myself that I know my daughter’s character. Now, I am convinced that if I had put my foot down, Winnie would have gone off and married the man there and then. But I know the Spratte character inside and out. We are a family of marked idiosyncrasies.”
“Inherited from the Montmorencys, I suppose,” suggested Lady Sophia, ironically.
“I have no doubt. You will remember in our father the firmness and decision of which I speak.”
“I remember that he was as obstinate as a pig.”